Buenaventura Art Association artist Christine Beirne created and donated a kinetic sculpture for the Ventura Harbor Village titled “Seeking Peace.” The piece is mounted between two palm trees in the planter in between the Harbor Village Gallery and Hi-Cees restaurant.
The sculpture is a site specific piece consisting of origami-inspired steel cranes that rotate with the wind. Says Beirne, “BAA President Dan LaVigne requested a crane sculpture and Iris Austin with the Port District requested a kinetic piece; I wasn’t sure how to “marry” the two requests until I read the story of Sadako Sasaki and the Thousand Paper Cranes. She was a young girl who contracted leukemia from Hiroshima. It is believed that folding 1,000 cranes will grant the folder a wish. It is said that Sadako didn’t get to 1,000 cranes, but through her efforts, the origami cranes symbolize peace. Since my cranes are rotating, they are seeking peace. I like to think that when they all point in the same direction, they will have found it.”
Beirne is the Executive Director of the Buenaventura Art Association. She studied sculpture with Ellis Jump at Ventura College and Matt Furmanski at CSUCI. She studied welding with Michael Clarke at Ventura College.
The Harbor Village Gallery is located at 1591 Spinnaker Dr , Suite 117C, (before the big lawn) Ventura, California, Phone: (805) 644 – 2750. Hours: 12 – 6 pm. Closed Tuesdays.